My views and advice about living with a disability and my fight with severe arthritis. Everyday experiences and opinions showing how things affect the disabled.Im Hoping this blog supports others and there families with disabilities.

Monday, 30 January 2012

Healthier Lifestyle Benefits Arthritis

For a number of years now my doctor has been telling me to eat healthier and it could benefit my arthritis. Me being my normal stubborn self ignored this, just putting this advice down to the "healthy lifestyle" campaign that was going on at the time.

This new year I made the decision that I would change my lifestyle in the hope that I might benefit and get some sort of relief from my arthritis. After a bit of research I decided that as well as eating healthier I would also avoid eating red meats as much as possible. I had read a few articles where people claimed that reducing red meat intake would help relieve some of the symptoms of arthritis. I decided to try it for myself, that was a massive decision for my self as every meal I have contains meat, and quite often that was red meat. My plan was to eat healthier, reduce my meat intake and try to avoid red meat altogether.

In all honesty I was very sceptical to say the least, but have had a very nice surprise. Since I started I have had all the benefits of a healthy diet like a bit more energy and feeling a bit perkier etc, but my biggest surprise is that I feel my arthritis is under more control. Although the pains are still there my flare ups are far less frequent than what they were. I'm not sure if it can be put down to cutting the red meat out or just the benefits of a healthier lifestyle, but I can honestly say that it is working for me.

I would to here if anyone has any other things they feel has helped their arthritis as I am now very open minded to try other things now.

5 comments:

I also do the no red meat thing and have been for over about 1 1/2 years now. Once in a very very blue moon I will eat red meat....like 2x per year. I am not sure that it has helped my ra alot but it (no red meat) I am hoping has helped my heart and all. I do take pregnisone so weight is something I would like to keep off...as much as possible. I did a recent blog post on my blog about different vitamins and things I am taking for my ra. I have noticed a difference when I added these to my daily stuff. And I am next going to try and add some protein powder (natural kind of course) to my daily intake as I feel I am low on protein intake. I am glad that your diet has made a difference for you. I am also trying to add some regularly walking into my every day stuff. I am bound to be healthier also...ra or not!

I haven't been here in a while, I am so surprised to hear how much better you sound! And, I 'm so happy for you! I've been diagnosed with arthritis in my lower back. I've been taking Calcium with magnesium & Vit. D supplements 1200 mg (all in one) every day and have had no real problem since. I also take Vitamin C 1000 mg along with it. Also, I've been taking Apple cider vinegar, a few teaspoons every day, (I read was good for arthritis) followed by a teaspoon of organic honey.

Medical Research Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to diseases and conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. A 2010 study published in "Arthritis Research and Therapy" looked at the association of vitamin D deficiency and rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. They found that vitamin D deficiency is very common in patients with RA and that there is a strong association between low levels of vitamin D and disease activity and treatment success. They discovered significantly lower levels of vitamin D in patients with active disease activity and a poor response to disease treatment. Calcium deficiency and low bone mineral density is common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A 2006 study published in "Arthritis and Rheumatology" looked at the use of calcium and vitamin D supplements in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and found that 1,000 mg of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D significantly increased the bone mineral density in these patients.